Get Well Soon’s mission statement (according to the CD packshot) is
this guarantee – "I tried my very best to make this music loveable."
Mission accomplished! This sumptuously eccentric and eloquent CD is one of the
albums of 2008. In terms of adventure, it’s in the same frame as the magnificent
Flying Club Cup (2007) by Beirut or The Sleepy Jackson’s Personality (2006). Other comparisons?
Nick Drake, Bright Eyes and Tom Waits come to mind. There’s a touch of Sigur Ros
in there too. This is the musical vision of 25 year old Berlin based Konstatin
Gropper who’s a multi-instrumentalist, philosopher and producer no less. Ok,
so the song titles are a bit, er, quirky, but the music is truly wonderful.
In many ways it’s as daring as Rufus Wainwright’s Want One and Two,
though he hasn’t got Rufus’ exquisite voice.
If you’re a real music fan, then this is one you’re gonna love to bits.
Blending electro, folk, tango and classical overtones, Gropper elects to unleash
this 21st century masterpiece and opus with a simple Prelude featuring
xylophone clangs that drift away backed by an organ. It’s all delicate stuff
and a sublime start that builds midway into whopping crescendo, fading out to
the old xylo.
Cinematic soundscapes and Beirut-like European brass engulf the intro of the
monster that is You/Aurora/You/Seaside. It’s minimalist in lyrics which juxtapose
perfectly with the dramatic flushes. Things get even better on Christmas In Adventure Parks.
After the acoustic strums and ghostly vocal, it picks up a moderate pace and
unfolds into a sumptuous ballad. The lyrics are bit cryptic, artistic licence
maybe, but it hints at the warmth that emanates from someone’s soul and
persona – "Save our souls with your golden heart," he swoons in a
monotonous tone.
There’s a short eastern European string arrangement opening dark If This Hat…
This is a unsettling and menacing song. "Shoot baby! Shoot! Baby pull the trigger!
Fire a bullet, an arrow or a poisoned dart, baby! Shoot, baby! Shoot! Free us
from this pressure! With a rifle or a gun! We can’t live forever! It takes
just one second."
On the back of this we get the divine, but mournful, Help To Prevent Forest Fires
with We Are Safe Inside… giving a strong nod to latter day Radiohead’s
miserablist template. The eastern Euro flavour zooms back on plodding Your Endless Dream.
The mood lightens slightly for Lost In The Mountains. Clunking piano and
thumping drums precede a massive burst that returns to base once again, and so
it goes all over again until the flushing crescendo. Coda, a short brassed
based drifter, ends a quite remarkable achievement.
1. Prelude
2. You/Aurora/You/Seaside
3. Christmas In adventure Packs
4. People Magazine Front Cover
5. If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting
6. Help To Prevent Forest Fires
7. I Sold My Hands For Food So Please Feed Me
8. We Are Safe Inside While They Burn Down Our House
9. Born Slippy Nuxx
10. Your Endless Dream
11. Witches ! Witches ! Rest Now In The Fire
12. Ticktack ! Goes My Automatic Heart
13. Lost In The Mountains Of My Heart
14. Coda
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
